


Peripherals (a Cirque du Freak FanFiction) {AU}

by Hallowraith



Series: Peripherals (CDF AU) [1]
Category: Cirque du Freak | The Saga of Darren Shan - Darren Shan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Original Character(s), Other, Paranormal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-21
Updated: 2018-01-12
Packaged: 2019-02-05 04:52:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12787380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hallowraith/pseuds/Hallowraith
Summary: Growing up in a small secluded town with an adoptive Vampire parent, Florence Warren - a human with the ability to see and study the dead in ways never recorded before - must go on a journey to Vampire Mountain to share her secrets and discover her past.___This is an AU of the Cirque Du Freak series by Darren Shan, and takes place during the same canon timeline. Notable canon story diversion will occur, due to the influences of the characters involved.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> (( This is the first Fanfiction I have ever been devoted to completing. The "Ghosts and Ghouls" (AKA "Peripherals") AU has been in the works for a long time (started ~2011), though I have hardly ever written any narratives taking place in it. I hope you enjoy!))

_ Chapter 1: Home _

  


…

  


Florence Warren still couldn’t shake the lingering scent of buttery popcorn from her nose.

The smell of the bacon and eggs she was currently preparing didn’t help at all, really. She added more pepper, some salt, and even opened a window… but that pungent festive mixture of sticky cotton candy, popcorn, and even woodland pine still stung the back of her throat.

It was like she had actually _been_ there. Wherever it was. _What-ever_ it was.   
Some kind of carnival or circus, from what she had gathered. Red banners, white stripes, the whole parade.

“Marcus! Get up!” She shouted, carefully moving the pan to a cooled metal stovetop… switching off the current one and wiping her hands on a nearby rag. At least cooking was a bit of a distraction.   
  
A moth fluttered frantically past her face, and Florence took the memo to shut the window again. That’s right… attracted to light. She’d be spending the evening chasing the thing down to give her some peace of mind. Great.

…Her tongue pressed up against the roof of her mouth. _Buttery buttery sticky — ugh! Go away!_

“Marcu- !”   
  
“-I’m awake, Flor! No need to bite my ear off…”

“Oh…Sorry. I didn’t hear you.”   
  
The voice had come from a rather stout man who now stood at the opening to the small kitchen, scratching his grey-rimmed black hair with a wide yawn…   
  
He stumbled towards the table and took a seat, taking a particularly long dreg from a nearby mug. 

This was Marcus Velasquez, Florence’s adoptive father and caretaker. He worked diligently to keep a roof over both their heads, working a night shift at a local convenience store… one of the few occupations open to Vampires who needed an excuse to stay anywhere else but a hotel or under a bridge.   
  
Taking care of a human for the duration of its childhood years was his reason. That responsibility alone was hard enough… and Florence knew it. 

She brought a plate of food over to him.  


“You’re going to be late.”  
  
“They won’t notice.” Marcus chuckled, uttering a small ‘thank you’ as the food was given, “ Besides, they’d never dream of replacing me.”  
  
Florence smiled,   
  
“Not ever since you caught that vandal that was messing up the place, right?”  
  
“That’s right.”  


She got her own food then and joined him at the dinner table, the two of them eating in silence… Marcus looking over something on a nearby newspaper, murmuring quietly as he attempted to decipher some words.   
  
Politics, world news, nearby businesses… Florence tried to get a glimpse of anything related to a Circus when he lifted it up to get a closer look. Surely, that would make big news for such a small town…  
  
\- But his huff interrupted her, “You should really start sleeping at normal hours, if we’re going to get you enrolled at the school next year…”  
  
“Then I guess you’ll be the one making me breakfast every day?” She joked, munching on a bit of egg whites, “You need me to help you out. Stop fretting about the school stuff…”  
  
“You’re human, you need school.”   
  
“Says who?”  
  
“Says the law! Once those neighbors move in we’ll never hear the end of it… awful nosy, the people here.”   
  
“You’re on thin ice too! You’re lucky the boss at Richie’s hired you!”   
  
The two of them shared another laugh at that. It helped dissipate the nervousness a bit.  
  
…Though Marcus seemed dead-set on the subject. He took another drink before sighing,“You should, though. Seriously. I’ll be fine, I’ll just… snag something from the deli when I get to work. I have a few friends on the School Board, they won’t let any federal mess get involved.”  
  
“You can’t trust everyone, dad.” Florence murmured, finishing up her food in silence… only the sound of the clock down the hall filling the trailer.   
  
Marcus stared at her for a long moment after finishing his own plate.   


“…Something is bothering you, isn't it?”   
  
“Just bad dreams.”   
  
“Anything notable…? Any people?”  
  
“No people, Just— smells. And banners. I’m not sure what it was though.”  
  
“Hmm…”  
  
…  
  
  
“Well I _do_ have to go now, actually.” He concluded after a time without further questioning - knowing well by now Florence didn’t like to be pestered about those _things_ she often saw - tidying up his weathered uniform and placing the dishes by the sink… Doing a small double-take before Florence smiled and said she would finish up by herself, receiving a small apologetic glance in return.   
  
“…Take it easy Flor. Have a good night.”   
  
“Will do. See you.”   
  
And with that, he was gone, leaving the human alone with the fluttering moth, her thoughts…  
  
… and the putrid taste of buttery popcorn still lingering just behind her tongue.  
  



	2. Chapter 2: The Walk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Growing up in a small secluded town with an adoptive Vampire parent, Florence Warren - a human with the ability to see and study the dead in ways never recorded before - must go on a journey to Vampire Mountain to share her secrets and discover her past.
> 
> ___
> 
> This is an AU of the Cirque Du Freak series by Darren Shan, and takes place during the same canon timeline. Notable canon story diversion will occur, due to the influences of the characters involved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (( Got the writing itch so I'm back with another chapter. Mild gore trigger warning for this one.))

_ Chapter 2: The Walk _

 

...

 

It was a Tuesday, and the sound of snow crunching beneath Florence's boots filled the cold night air.

Her home's backyard woodland was only a few dozen feet of stocky oaks and shrubbery... Leading just over the hill to a much larger collective of trees, filling the miles between all the other trailer parks that made up that side of town. It was a bit dirty, unfortunately, often the victim of vandalism and garbage disposal; but Florence liked it anyway.

When she was younger, Florence would wait all year for when the ice would freeze  _juust_  right around the hills, making it perfect for sledding...But now, she simply enjoyed the silence that came with the snow on her nature walks. It was great for muffling the sound of the highway, and it also buried all the ugly litter she often tried to avoid during warmer seasons. Though, she still had to deal with her boot skidding against a slippery scrap of plastic from time to time.

A small price for a night of serenity. 

The route she took was a familiar one, winding between various trees and rocks she could recall at a glance alone…Knowing it would be a good 45 minute stroll if she took a certain path, taking advantage of her father's absence for the night to get a bit more exercise. He had always been snappy about her wandering too long, but...He wouldn't know now, would he? 

Of course not.

She tugged her coat closer around herself, air coming out in puffs as she descended down another hill…Allowing her thoughts to wander and her stride to find a steady pace… at least until her boot scuffed against something, forcing herself to pause and move away carefully.   
  
_Must be another heap of trash - oh…?_    
  
…Florence reached down, and lifted up a discarded orange scarf from the snow.   
  
Finding scraps of clothes wasn't rare out in these woods, but… something was odd about this one. It wasn’t even wet from the slush, only a light powdering of snowflakes clinging to the plush material…  
  
A small glance to her right was all she needed to confirm her suspicions. A second set of fresh tracks, leading further into the forest.

The human had half a mind to just keep walking, believing for just a moment that it could have been merely some local thug taking a shortcut from the street…But the tracks were too small. Way too small. Like those of a child…and without any apparent adult footprints alongside.

The scarf remained clutched firmly within her gloved hand as she turned heel and began to follow.

…  
  
The tracks went on and on, and Florence wandered far enough away for even the diffused glow of the highway lamps to vanish over the horizon. It was dark this deep in the woods, and darker still it became…Only the moonlight illuminating the frosted edges of the tracks still in front of her.

Over a hill, through clumps of bushes…More and more little tracks, the trail remaining neat despite how difficult it would have been for a child to get through the undergrowth. Left footprint, right footprint, left,  _right, left, right, left…_

…Right.

And then the girl was there.

“Oh—-“

Why, she hadn’t even  _seen_  her! But here she was now: A young girl - only about seven or eight at most - in a blue plush coat… Staring over her shoulder at Florence with wide, green eyes.

The snow fell in silence for a few long seconds.   
  
“I’m sorry! I didn’t- I mean…I didn't mean to scare you.” Florence suddenly blurted, attempting to reassure both herself and the girl… finally easing her grip of the scarf and bringing it forth.  
  
“Here…You d-dropped this? Are you lost? You’re face will get cold out here without-“   
  
…  
  
But the girl was already running.   
  
“-H…Hey!  _Wait!”_

Florence took off running after, now beyond panicked as the obviously lost child sped off in front of her, the child’s arms flailing and brown hair swirling behind…Small legs carrying her impossibly quick through the winter woodland, faster than even Florence with her far larger stride could even manage…!

“ _Stop!_  Please…! I can help you ! “   
  
She crashed through bushes, struggling to haul herself over the next hill, but like the seemingly endless tracks before her- the pursuit was fruitless - and the young girl soon vanished from her sight.

…

Her boots slid against ice as Florence twisted around a rocky outcrop- still certain she could at least keep following the girl’s fresh trail- awkwardly losing her balance and hitting the ground sideways with a painful  **thud**  .

She groaned and sat up, grasping around at the snow for the scarf…only to grab around nothing but chunky white powder stained with red clay.   
  
_What on earth…Where did it…-_    
  
…And then she saw the body.

_ Oh. _

The blue of the coat poked up from between the protruding roots of an oak, lying sideways with her face to the earth… Half buried in snow. What little skin that was exposed - be it the arm draped over the wood or the exposed side of her  _scarred_  face Florence was able to see- was pale and sickly. Bloodless. Long frozen. Long gone.

Long dead.

_ …Oh. _

That hadn't been dirt Florence was rummaging blindly around in.  
…

It took the human a good few minutes to realize she was retching, pulling herself up from the frozen bolder she had keeled over during her shock, gasping for air.

_ Oh Gods oh Gods oh Gods - What - _

What had happened!? Had she been too late!? What had she seen…?

That wasn’t real. Of course not. It wasn’t  _possible_. A trick, a dream…But the body was still there. The blood was still there, or what was left of it that is.

She looked around, and as she did so her mind snapped back into place. She finally realized it was brighter already. In fact…the sun was already exposed clearly with the sunrise.

How long had she been out there?

…But there was more. Voices. Many voices. Desperate ones. Distant but growing closer -

Calling.   
  
“…toria! Victoria!”

“Victoria Collins…!

That was all the encouragement Florence needed. She bolted off after a few semi-paralyzed stumbles, not wanting to be anywhere near the girl’s body or the encroaching people, not caring about her trail as she busted back through the undergrowth, soiled gloves tossed sloppily to the snow once she realized she was still wearing them.

…

It wasn’t until well into the morning when Florence quite literally collided with Marcus, whom was scouring one of her original walking trails. Once she recognized him, though, she fell helplessly into his arms with a loud sob… numb facade finally caving in after the hours of wandering through the freezing woods.

“She’s dead!”

Marcus was taken aback, “Dead?” He exclaimed, “What do you mean- ‘dead?’ Who’s dead? Where the  _hell_  have you been? Did you have ANY idea how worried I was-“

“-She’s dead…!”

Marcus clasped her face for a moment, expression a mixture of worry, anger, and confusion… before he let go, sinking to his knees and simply holding her tight.

“Now, now…”

“ I couldn’t—  _h_ …The girl- she was- … “ Florence groaned, tears streaming down her face and voice intercut by gasps “I chased h-her…! I just wanted to  _h-h_ -ah-help but s-she…She was dead and then it was… b-bright? Then there were people coming and-and-and I was s-so scared-  _hh_  - and… ”   
  
“Slow down…It’s okay…”  
  
“She was pale and— the - _hh_  - the  _scars_  on her f-f…face, and th-there was- “   
  
“…Scars?”Marcus gently cupped her face again, tone insistent “What do you mean?”   
  
The question confused her.

“Y…You know, kinda…” She stuttered, wiping her eyes with her sleeve before lifting a hand, running her index finger over the three small marks on her cheek, “L-Like mine…? F-For just a moment, I… I saw…”   
  
A look of horror washed over the Vampire’s face.

“We’ve got to go.”

“W-…What?” Florence started, clearly offended, “ Aren’t you going t-to do anything…!? Call the police- ! “

“We need to leave, right now.” He insisted, already standing and glancing about, immediately paranoid, “Gotta…Take you out of town, okay? It’ll be fine. Yeah…Uh…The police were probably already there, right? T…They’ll find your tracks, and they’ll… try to ask you questions.”  
  
The human shoved him with rising fury, trying to get to her feet “Then let them ask me…! I can tell them what I saw-”

“-They’ll never believe you.” Marcus snapped, suddenly tugging on her arm in an attempt to move.  
  
“ _Ow…!_  Dad!”   
  
The vampire halted quickly at the exclaimation, looking back at her and realizing he’d accidentally hurt her, swiftly loosening his grip and shooting her an apologetic glance “…Sorry. But listen, I’ll tell you everything once we’re out of town. This is dangerous, okay? Can you pretend its dangerous? For me?”

“I…”

“Just trust me, alright? I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

“…O…Okay.”   
  
“Thank you.”

And then- not wasting even another moment - Marcus lifted Florence into his arms and broke off into a dash towards their house…and then past it.   
  
“Hold your breath if you can.”   
  
…


End file.
